Oklou's Endless Summer

"In the afterglow of her magnificent album, choke enough, and the birth of her first child, Marylou Mayniel decamps to the southwest of France. The city is quiet, the heat is unbearable, and there's a new deluxe edition of the album to get ready for. For Oklou, becoming a new mother and a new pop star is soft and tender work."

"Below, in the rustic stone-brick city of Pau, the musician and producer Marylou Mayniel meets me outside a restaurant and leads us around the corner to the local cinema bar. In a sense, we're recreating one of the rare date nights she and her partner, the photographer and part-time shepherd Gil Gharbi, have enjoyed since bringing their new baby to stay with his family here for the summer (they saw Eddington -she called it an "interesting modern Western but a bit confusing on its satirical aspects")."

"For the most part lately, they've been in the house, living in semidarkness, keeping the shutters closed to give the A/C a chance. It was 103 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday, 104 today-40 degrees Celsius-the hottest, Mayniel says, that she can remember it ever being in France. It's early evening, still hot, and the shopping district is quiet. August is the summer holiday season. Here in Pau, the sun doesn't go down until after nine. We're drinking cool neon citronnade in wavy glasses."

Marylou Mayniel relocates to the southwest of France after releasing choke enough and after the birth of her first child. She and her partner, photographer and part-time shepherd Gil Gharbi, spend the summer in Pau with the new baby, favoring quiet, dimly lit days to cope with record heat and to preserve the A/C. Flights reveal the Pyrenees as the landscape shifts from khaki to green. Mayniel prepares a deluxe edition of the album while navigating the dual roles of new mother and ascending pop artist. Moments include evening citronnade and gentle domestic routines.

Read at Pitchfork